If you’re looking for a data point that shows a shift in compensation culture on Wall Street and you took a quick look at the headline of this Bloomberg article, you might think you’ve found it: “Bonuses Met Wall Street Workers’ Expectations, Survey Shows.”

According to an email survey of 1,006 financial sector employees by eFinancialCareers.com, 56 percent said their bonus met or exceeded their expectations.

So, it sounds like Wall Street is beginning to accept that a different pay scale will be the norm, right?

Not really. The survey only measured expectations. As a result, it speaks more to the lengths Wall Street employees went this year to convince themselves that their pay was going to be terrible than to any absolute measure of satisfaction with that pay.

Is Wall Street really happy with 20 to 30 percent pay cuts, less cash and more restricted stock that vests over a period of years? Probably not.

Do they think that outcome is better than being fired or getting nothing? Yes! And that’s is precisely the news this survey delivers.

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Lloyds Banking Group’s CEO in London will not accept an annual bonus for 2011 after taking a leave of absence from the embattled bank, according to a statement released Friday. [via Dealbook]

“As Chief Executive, I believe my bonus entitlement should reflect the performance of the Group but also the tough financial circumstances that many people are facing,” António Horta-Osório said in a statement.

In November, the chief executive was forced to take a break because he was working himself to the point of exhaustion.  He returned to his post earlier this month.

“I also acknowledge that my leave of absence has had an impact both inside and outside the bank including for shareholders. On that basis, I have decided to request that the Board does not consider me for a 2011 bonus.”

The chief executive said he wants to restore the bank’s profitability so the British taxpayers can get back their money.

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AOL hosts a “global operating meeting” twice a year. 

It’s holding one right this very moment in New York to firm up the company’s plans for 2012.

A couple sources tells us that Tim Armstrong just opened the meeting by giving everyone in attendance – about 150 execs – a $10,000 bonus on the spot.

“About $1.5 million just for showing up!” says our incredulous source.

An AOL PR rep declined to comment.

Google did a similar thing a year ago, except it gave ALL of its employees $1,000 bonuses and 10% raises.

Related: Here’s What AOL’s Top 100 Executives Will Talk About During This Week’s Big Meeting

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New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski has five catches for 155 yards and 2 TDs midway through the third quarter against the Redskins.

Not only is he putting up gaudy numbers, he’s making all sorts of highlight-reel plays.

Here he is running through tacklers after making a diving catch:

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A mixed bag on tomorrow’s British front pages with the Telegraph catching the eye with its story about the Euro being “doomed from the start.”

The Guardian also focuses on the Euro-crisis, more specifically on Angela Merkel’s proposed budget controls.

The Independent leads wit the prospect of former Lloyd’s banking chief Eric Daniels having to pay back his bonus, while the Times opts for a story concerning educating children as young as 12 about gambling.

The Daily Mail focuses on plans for a British law guaranteeing foreign aid while the Daily Express looks at the prospect of some workers potentially having to pay back £47,000 worth of their pensions.

One story that’s also gracing a couple of the front pages is the news that the Queen was bullied to tears by her husband the Duke of Edinburgh over a row about the couple’s last name when they initially married.

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David Cameron has announced a new housing strategy designed to get “Britain building again” but Labour claims that the promise of £400m to kickstart stalled developments is ‘small beer’.

From July next year, the “Get Britain Building Fund” is expected to support the building of 16,000 new homes for which planning permission has already been granted, and the creation of 32,000 jobs.

By 2015, it is hoped that around 450,000 homes will be built, with the majority of them in the ‘affordable’ category.

The new strategy also includes plans to offer discounts of up to 50 per cent to tenants in social housing, to help them buy the property under ‘right to buy’.

The money raised by the sale of social housing will be re-invested, with one new social housing property being built to replace each one that is sold off.

More public sector land will be made available for house-building and a £150m fund will be available to help make empty housing fit for residential use again.

£50m of this fund will be focused on areas where there is a high concentration of empty homes.

Councils who bring empty homes back into use will be eligible for cash rewards under a ‘New Homes Bonus’ and they will be giver greater housing and planning powers.

Commenting on the announcement, Labour claimed that the government’s “mismanagement” of the economy was contributing to the downturn in housebuilding.

It wants a £2 billion tax to be levied on bank bonuses to boost house building and to create construction jobs.

As part of the new strategy, David Cameron confirmed recent speculation that a mortgage indemnity scheme will be established to help first time buyers who are struggling to raise the high deposits demanded by mortgage lenders since the credit crunch.

The scheme will allow first-time buyers of new homes to borrow up to 95% of their value, with the government underwriting part of the risk.

The difficulties faced by prospective house buyers is reflected in the latest figures from Rightmove which show a 3.1 per cent fall in the asking price of homes.

A shortage of buyers led to the asking price of newly marketed properties falling by £7,528 to £232,144 in November.